The Return  Android Arc Fic 3
by Debs dragon
Summary: We all know that 18 was regurgitated by Cell, but what of 17? Just how did he manage to return? And when he did, what did he do? Fic 3 in the Android Arc
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Don't own these guys so don't sue as I barely even own the pc!_

_Warnings: Angst, Seventeen's POV_

_Rating: PG 13_

_Summary:We all know that 18 was regurgitated by Cell, but what of 17? Just how did he manage to return? And when he did, what did he do?_

_**Android arc #3**_

'THE RETURN'

Debs-dragon Jan 2002

Chapter 1

I have no concept of time, so therefore I cannot tell how long I have been here. I can remember a blinding light that destroyed all that surrounded me and then my next conscious thought was when I awoke to find myself here. It's strange. I feel as if I am caught in some moment of time... 'suspended' if you will. Being denied access to that plane which is above me. Feeling the fiery depths below which are all too ready to consume me, but as yet, cannot reach me and the plane which confronts me, so close and yet so unattainable. Why I am drawn here I do not know. But I long... no, _yearn_ to be there and so by staying close I can at least gain some comfort in knowing I am near.

I feel the shift as the planes adjust from time to time. The reason for this is still unclear, but it usually lasts but a minute and then the stillness returns as everything slides once again into place. There is no one else to be found here. I am all alone. From time to time as the planes shift I sense a presence as it passes by, onward and upward; or on occasion - but very rarely - downward. I know when one is going downwards. The heat below begins to increase and wild sounds manage to break through, chilling me to the core. I grimace with the thought. So different to the calm that radiates from above.

I feel the plane shift yet again. I really don't take much notice, that is until I _feel_. There is something different this time, the shift is not as subtle, there seems to be excitement, electricity streaks through the void. I feel above me a surrender of sorts - and movement... Suddenly I am caught up with it. Pulled and dragged along, I cannot resist, there is nothing there to fight. I tumble through the vacuum along with many 'others', I blink as a kaleidoscope of colours washes around me... moving... pulsing. And then I am falling... spiralling out of control. My last coherent thought was of how pretty everything around me looked before... blackness.

Silence.

Slowly I crack open an eye and peer around me. The images are blurry at first but then start to clear and come into focus. Quickly I close my eye again and try to think. This cannot be possible. I groan as my circuits begin to come back on line; one by painful one. I am lying face down on what appears to be vegetation. Grass and leaf matter to be precise.

Once more I open an eye. Blinking, I open the other eye. Not trusting what my eyes are telling me I inhale deeply. The smell of earth, plants and fresh clean air assaults my nostrils. I groan and move my head. I appear to be in some sort of clearing. Pushing myself I roll onto my back, sensors scan the area. No danger detected at this stage. I look up at the sky and marvel at how blue it is. I laugh. Yes, laugh! Out loud to anyone or anything that cares to listen. My memory banks are jumbled, fragments come flashing through to me in some random order. Confused I sit up and shake my head in an attempt to clear it. It doesn't work. All I succeed in doing is burning out a couple more fuses...

"Ouch!"

Yes... androids _do_ feel pain.

I cradle my head, gently rubbing my fingers over my temples in an attempt to soothe the pulse of electricity there. I try to order my thoughts. Try to bring some sort of sense to the multitude of images that are crowding in, threatening to drown me. I manage to bring some of my programing back on line and the scraps of history begin to slot into place.

I don't know how long I am sitting here for. All I know is that the jigsaw is beginning to take shape. Piece by piece it is forming, finding and fitting together, leading into an overall picture. Some pieces are missing, but no matter, I am sure that I can skip over those areas and still know what would have occurred. A heat is beginning to throb in the base of my skull, I ignore its meaning and force myself to continue to concentrate. While still scanning and piecing together I begin to analyse and study the fragments already finished.

A building... No, the interior of a building. A white haired man. I shivered involuntarily when this image appeared. I was scared of this man. Why?

No data.

"Hmmmm," I said out loud.

Try as I might there was no data to access on the man. Either that information had not been programed into my system or the files had been erased or damaged. Somehow I sensed that he had had a large influence on me and that along the line he was responsible for some sinister dealings. I frowned as again I searched my data banks for any remote piece of information that I could get on this man; alas it was to no avail. The files were either 'fried' or non accessible. I made a mental note to check those files once I have access to some major hardware and have repaired the damage to my systems. Idly I went back to the other pieces of the puzzle. A girl, there was a girl with me. She was important to me. There was a strong connection between us, my mind searched, this answer was within my grasp... I could feel it... all I had to do was pin it down.

"Eighteen!" That was it!

I hung on to the word, desperate to make more sense from it. _Eighteen... Eighteen..._ I rolled the name around in my head. My sister! That's who she was. The thoughts came tumbling forth as the dam of memories was unlocked, flooding me, drowning me as I struggled to stay afloat amongst the wash of information. Eighteen was my sister. Juu... Juu... Juuhachigou! That was it. And I was... umm... I was... I racked my memory banks for that elusive answer. It was there, I knew it was.. I could feel it. I squeezed my eyes shut and balled my fists as the thoughts floated by. I heard her soft, lilting voice calling me, so sweet was that sound. "Seventeen..." she called to me. That was it! I was Seventeen!

"Yes!" I yelled out aloud to anyone that cared to listen. "Seventeen... Juunanagou! That is who I am."

The breeze made the tree branches nod as if in recognition. I sighed and leaned back. So I was Seventeen or Juunanagou and that girl was Eighteen or Juuhachigou, my sister. If that was so, where was she now? What had happened to us and where was I ? These thoughts and many others began to infiltrate my system threatening to send it into overload. It was with great effort that I managed to calm my mind and return to the fragments of memory that I still held and was piecing together.

Another android floated into my memory. This one was strong, but he also wanted to hurt me and my sister. There was fighting... flashes of energy, buildings and people being destroyed, but for what reason I could not determine. Then there was darkness, nothing but darkness; and now this.

I sighed. What did it all mean? I looked down at my hands still curled into fists. There was damage to my body. I blinked. I don't remember how I got the damage. My clothes were torn and in places the metal rods and wires were exposed to the air through various sized wounds that graced my arms and legs. I scanned my systems again and calculated that my main power was running at 60%. My central core was damaged, allowing precious life energy to escape. There wasn't much that I could do about that at the moment though. What power was available needed to be conserved and channelled into the vital areas. My main objective being to get to somewhere that had the equipment necessary for me to make the repairs that I needed. I began a routine functions check

I flexed my feet... Operational. My legs at first were reluctant to follow orders, but once the stiffness wore off a little they both moved sufficiently for me to become mobile.

My arms... Well, the left had suffered quite a bit of damage and wasn't functioning properly, the right seemed to be okay. My vision had cleared and my remaining senses were functioning adequately. Shakily I got to my feet. I scanned the area for signs of habitation and drew a blank. I had no idea of where I was but I knew I had to get to a town and quickly. Preferably a city as the damage to my inner circuitry and wiring was worse than I had at first believed. I ran a distance check and my sensors told me that there was a settlement not to far from my current position. Turning in its direction I began the slow, laborious trek towards civilisation in the hope of finding some assistance.

tbc...


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Don't own these guys so don't sue as I barely even own the pc!_

_Warnings: Angst, Seventeen's POV_

_Rating: PG 13_

_Summary:We all know that 18 was regurgitated by Cell, but what of 17? Just how did he manage to return? And when he did, what did he do?_

_**Android arc #3**_

'THE RETURN'

Debs-dragon Jan 2002

Chapter 2

An age seemed to have passed and my progress, while slow, was impeded more by the amount of vegetation that surrounded me than my lack of motion. I struggled as I continued to push my way forward. I had tried on a few occasions to gather together and fire off energy balls in an attempt to clear a pathway, but it was futile. I just couldn't concentrate enough power into the one spot to do the job. If I did use the energy for that then I would only have enough power left to keep my vital circuits running, which meant total shut down until such time as someone repaired me. I knew that Dr Gero had designed and built me so that my power was limitless; unfortunately at the time of my construction he hadn't counted on the android known as Cell being defeated.

I stopped dead in my tracks. That was it! That was what had happened to me. Now I could fit more of the puzzle together. There had been another android, one named Cell, and somehow I had become a part of him. I shuddered as the unwanted memories flooded my brain. I stared around. So what had happened? Somehow I had returned and with my return had come confusion. The absorption and joining followed by the release and return had done some major damage to my wiring... not to mention the effect it had had on my fuses! That must be why my core power system was malfunctioning, it hadn't been designed to suffer the effects of the return. Then the shock of realization hit me and sent me reeling.

I wasn't supposed to be 'alive'.

Dr Gero had no intention of letting me live other than as a part of that... that... creature. My legs gave out from underneath me and I sank to the ground. If my heart had been real then it had just been shattered into a million pieces. I tried in vain to collect my thoughts and slot in some more of the missing puzzle. The knowledge that my current existence was unplanned, that I had been destined all along to become a part of that other _thing_ rocked me to my very foundations.

Another part of me 'died' that day.

I felt something wet slide from the corner of my eye and meander down my cheek. Brushing my fingers across I captured the trail of moisture and held my glistening fingers up for observation. I frowned as I studied the phenomena. Water mixed with a little salt... I scanned my memory banks.

Tears.

So that's what this stuff was. The data was limited but sufficient to ring distant bells, bells from a long time ago. A little boy crying. I frowned again as I failed to find any further trace of data on this. Tears... so this was another part of me a part that was human coming to the fore. This was strange. So many of these 'human' traits were beginning to make themselves known to me. I raised myself to my feet once more. I had to push on, the memories would have to wait till later. Right now my power level was on the wane and I didn't like the speed at which it was decreasing. Down to 50% now.

I groaned as the stiffness in joints unused for so long once more began their painful journey forward. I... once so graceful and confident was reduced to this ... a slow shuffling robot.

Yes _robot_!.

I sent a manic, blood curdling laugh towards the skies, to any that would hear that I, Juunanagou, once the strongest warrior to walk this planet, so fluid in motion, so strong was now reduced to nothing more than a pile of broken, twisted metal and fused, melted wiring.

I pushed my lank hair away from my face. Darkness was coming, dusk settling over the landscape. I shivered. Not from the cold but from my lack of progress. With my power level so low and continuing its descent, spending the night out here in this wilderness was to say the least.. not appealing. I continued to move forwards, stumbling from time to time as feet connected with the uneven surface of the woodland path. The sun had almost gone and along with it the warmth. Pretty soon an eerie twilight settled over the landscape - and still I pressed on.

The chill of the evening air began to penetrate my being. The moisture crept in through open wounds and settled upon exposed wires and circuits, slowly seeping in until I felt chilled to the proverbial bone. The dampness was a curse, a curse to my being. Normally it wouldn't bother me, but with my power so low and minimal function, the wounds I had suffered lay open, inviting the corrosive elements to attack my vulnerable innards. I felt the hiss and spark as a couple more circuits connected with the evenings dampness, fought vainly and then gave up the battle, admitting defeat with a small shower of sparks.

This was no good. I had to find shelter of some form, shelter from the evening air before my entire system seized up. Scanning the immediate area brought no result. The town was still some distance away and my chances of making it there were getting slimmer by the minute. There was nothing even remotely like a building anywhere close. I sighed.

_48% power. _

I scanned again. Wait. To my left there seemed to be some form of shelter. I zeroed in and stumbled my way through the vegetation towards my sanctuary.

At last I found it. A cave. Gratefully I crawled inside. At least it wasn't so cold and damp in here. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom I managed to gather together some pieces of wood and stacking them into a pile I spared enough of my precious energy to ignite them. The fire grew and crackled into life and I felt the warmth slowly spread through the cave. A check around the cave confirmed my thought that I was alone and so I let myself relax and curled up closer to the fire, enjoying the heat that radiated out from it. I may be mainly machine but that didn't mean that the human part of me was dead. On the contrary, it was very much alive and I was more than aware of its unity and part of my total being. Sometimes more painfully so than others.

tbc...


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Don't own these guys so don't sue as I barely even own the pc!_

_Warnings: Angst, Seventeen's POV_

_Rating: PG 13_

_Summary:We all know that 18 was regurgitated by Cell, but what of 17? Just how did he manage to return? And when he did, what did he do?_

_**Android arc #3**_

'THE RETURN'

Debs-dragon Jan 2002

Chapter 3

I watched the fire crackle and burn, the warmth spreading through the cave as the wood was steadily consumed by the living heat. Idly I let my mind wander to Juuhachigou, my sister.

Most of my memory banks were now on line and suprisingly there was only a few blank spaces so I was able to recall most of what had happened. A shiver ran down my spine that was not due to the temperature. My instincts told me that somehow I had managed to survive Cell's attack with most of myself in one piece. But what of Eighteen? That was a vital part of the puzzle that I needed to piece together. Was Juuhachigou still operational? How much damage had been done, if any, to her?

I ran my hands through my hair, pushing it idly from my face as I thought of my sister. My brow furrowed. Somehow I would find her. I would track her down and re unite us. I snuggled closer to the fire. Tired... so tired... I lay on my side and hugged my knees closer to my chest. Power still at 48%. I began to shut down my systems one by one leaving only those vital to my survival running. I closed my eyes and switched to scan mode then drifted off to sleep, safe in the knowledge that should anything come within 50 meters of me my sensors would pick it up and awaken me.

Beeping... non stop beeping...

Sluggishly I roused myself from slumber. Something had triggerd the warning system. I felt pain as electricity seared through my body, reawakening circuits and blowing a few more fuses in my haste to become fully functional again. I cursed softly as I felt a fuse in my temple blow, temporarily blinding me. I had to be more careful. I rubbed the spot gingerly as the scent of burnt wires greeted my nostrils.

Core power; 46%. Damn! I looked around in an attempt to find whatever it was that had caused my sensors to react. I couldn't detect anything. I stood. By the looks of the fire's embers I had been asleep for a few hours. I moved through the dark curtain towards the cave's mouth and peered outside. The moonlight bathed the forest in her silvery light, casting a somewhat eerie glow on the trees. It was cold. I wrapped my arms around myself and mechanically stomped my feet in an attempt to stave off the cool air - and then I heard it.

A low, menacing growl. I turned my head and scanned the undergrowth. A pair of yellow eyes glared back at me. I froze and locked gazes with the creature. Those yellow orbs held me mesmerised. The long snout parted into a panting mouth and I could see the row of white teeth as the moonlight glinted off them. I swallowed. Great! this was just what I _didn't_ need.

The wolf moved closer. I began to back away. Looked like I had three choices.

I could run and try to get away, which meant using up power, not as much as if I tried to fly but enough to render me vulnerable to further attack.

I could stand my ground and fight, but this again would take up precious energy... energy that I really could not afford to lose. Using my Ki attacks would most certainly destroy my enemy; but would also seal my own death warrant.

Or I could simply stand here and let the wolf have me.

Errr... scrap that. Number three is definately _NOT_ an option, not after having come this far.

"_Well Juunanagou, what a pickle you are in and just how do you propose to get out of it?"_ I thought to myself. The wolf continued its slow stalking of me. Its lips were drawn back in a feral leer. Teeth gleamed as saliva drooled from the tip of the tongue. I shudderd with disgust. Not at the creature but at myself for letting myself get into this predicament to start with.

Of the remaining options, I elected to run and hide. It would take less of my core energy so I might still have a chance to make it to the township. With one last glance at the advancing wolf I flexed my muscles, turned and ran. I ran blindly through the undergrowth, my limbs screamed in protest at being forced to work so hard. I had no idea of which direction I was going in.

"Shit!" I cursed out loud. So much for a plan. '_Seventeen you really are losing it.'_ I chided myself. I could hear the wolf behind me... he was gaining. I began to dodge and weave through the trees. My speed, although fast by human standards was extremely slow due to my core energy drain. I lunged forward again jumping over a fallen log, the fear of being caught spurring me on.

Core power; 40%

The wolf was still hot on my trail. I forget how long I dodged and weaved and ran, but the wolf never stopped... he was determined.

Core power; 30% and fading.

It was no good. I would have to make a stand. No sooner had the thought passed along my wires than I stumbled. The wolf was on me in an instant, snapping and snarling. I felt the saliva drip onto my neck, burning like acid, the smell of the animal's fetid breath as it fanned my cheek made me want to retch right there, and the weight of its body as it pushed me to the ground made me realize just how big the creature really was.

I thrashed around. "NO!" I screamed. I hadn't come this far to let some overgrown dog stop me now. I managed to twist myself and before I knew what it was I was going to do I gathered my energy and fired. The wolf was taken completely by suprise as the ki blast peirced through its chest cavity and exploded out the other side. There was a sharp yelp and then the body fell to the ground beside me, smoking and twitching slightly. Disgusted, I pushed away from it and sat panting. Damage report... minor abrasions to lower limbs, slight structural damage at neck where wolf's teeth and jaws had connected. All things considered I was lucky.

Core power; 20%.

Wearily I dragged my body upright and stumbled once more on my way. Putting one foot infront of the other took tremendous effort, the cold of the night air had worked its way right through my system causing minor malfunctions. My movements were becomming more sluggish by the minute, my brain was foggy and losing focus.

Core power 10%.

It was no good. I had to rest. Dawn would be here soon. I scanned around the clearing that I had stumbled into and then moved towards a large tree. I pushed through the undergrowth and sank wearily to my knees. Twisting, I sat and leaned up against the gnarled trunk. Rest. That's all I need ... rest. The cold continued to work its way into my body and slowly system after system began to shut down as I could no longer function against the elements. My head became muzzy as coherent thought left me...

Tired... so tired... My eyes wavered shut and my head slumped forward to rest my chin on my chest.

#

The dawn's rays broke across the landscape, penetrating the thick canopy of trees and lighting the floor below, driving away the last of the evenings chilly fingers and spreading her own warmth around. A squirrel stopped suddenly in its hunt for food as it spotted an unusual creature propped against a tree. His whiskers twitched but he could detect no danger. Abandoning his search for food, the sqirrel inched forward. Still detecting no threat the squirrel threw caution to the winds and scampered up the jean clad leg, over the chest and perched upon a shoulder. The boy showed no sign of movement. The squirrel did a quick investigation but found no food and so giving a chirrup, ran back down over the still form and scampered off to continue his search of the forest floor.

A small, blue glow that had appeared behind the closed eyes as the squirrel had brushed against the boy's ear, flickered once and then faded until it was completely extinguished.

Fin


End file.
